


A Few with a Friend

by Msynergy



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friendship, slow-burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-01
Updated: 2014-08-01
Packaged: 2018-02-11 08:33:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2061249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Msynergy/pseuds/Msynergy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes a cheap bottle of liquor and some honest conversation is all it takes to make things better.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Few with a Friend

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I wish, but no, I don’t own the characters/show.
> 
> Author’s Note: Short but sweet.

Of course, their new base didn’t have a stash of eighteen-year-old scotch on hand when they landed, and Hydra had cleaned out their plane’s bar, but the liquor cabinet she did find a few days later had a dusty bottle of cheap vodka, and May was willing to cut her losses at that point.

It had, after all, been a very long couple of weeks.

So coffee mug and bottle in hand she sat at one of the tables in a room that reminded her of a hotel’s breakfast bar rather than a SHIELD canteen, and poured herself a drink.

She was a few shots in too when she heard familiar footsteps, and tried to swallow away the burn in her throat as she poured another round and pushed it towards the opposite chair as Coulson walked in.

“So here you are. Usually, you’re with Fitzsimmons by now, but when I went by she said you’d taken off.”

It wasn’t a secret that she’d taken it upon herself to make sure the younger woman actually ate one meal a day while monitoring Fitz, her dinner drop-offs were a normal thing now. And she did normally stick around to make sure Jemma actually ate the food she provided, but tonight had been different.

As a team they’d established a new rhythm quickly, but she still felt off, on edge, waiting for another Mjölnir to drop. And as she watched Coulson take a seat at her table like a man without a care in the world, she knew all his tells, and he looked like she felt. On a good day their jobs were stressful, never mind the world falling down around their ears kind of days.

The thought was confirmed by how quickly the new Director took the mug she’d left, and tossed back its contents. The face he made after caused the corners of her mouth to tug upward.

“Ugh! How can you drink this stuff?”

“More?” she asked, grabbing the bottle.

“Please.”

They traded shot for shot until less than a quarter remained, and she watched him start to sway in his chair. It wasn’t something he’d ever broadcasted, but Phillip Coulson was an absolute featherweight when it came to alcohol consumption, and it seemed death hadn’t done him any favors.

“I’m sorry, by the way, in case you were wondering,” he finally blurted, breaking the silence.

“I mean, I could have handled things a lot better, we all could have. And I just- I-”

“Apology accepted, Director,” she cut him off, unable to hide her smirk at the title.

“Don’t call me that,” he grumbled, and her smirk grew as he pouted. It really was too easy to wind him up after a few drinks.

“Why not? Fury made it pretty clear-”

What May didn’t anticipate, however, was him reaching across the table and taking her hands with his, those expressive eyes saying so much as he looked at her, and her grip tightened instinctively. 

“I don’t want to be ‘Director’ to you, okay? I want to be Phil, just Phil. Or Coulson when you’re pissed at me. That’s an order.”

She blamed the booze for the smile that escaped at the last of his words, but he smiled back, and she couldn’t regret the slip.

Instead, she tugged one of her hands from his grasp, and poured the last of the acidic liquid.

She raised it as if to toast, brow raised as well.

“To Phil.”

He was downright grinning as she took a drink then passed it to him, and she couldn’t hide her smile if she tried as he also raised the mug.

“To whatever’s next.”

They’d both be hungover as hell tomorrow, she was sure of it, but as he set down the mug and the thumb of his other hand ghosted over her knuckles, May realized she didn’t care.


End file.
